In Japan, place at the controversial national funeral of Shinzo Abe

Published on: 09/27/2022 – 05:04 The Japanese began to meditate on Tuesday morning, the day of the state funeral of the assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, in the presence of many foreign dignitaries. High-cost funeral boycotted by the opposition. Thousands of Japanese paid their last respects on the morning of Tuesday, September 27 to their assassinated former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, whose state funeral planned for the day in Tokyo is however very controversial in the country. lay wreaths and take a moment to meditate in front of a portrait of Abe installed in a tent near the Nippon Budokan, a hotspot for martial arts competitions, concerts and official ceremonies in the heart of the Japanese capital, where the national funeral were to start around 2 p.m. local time (5 a.m. GMT). “I wanted to thank (Abe, editor’s note). He did so much for Japan (…) and the way he died was so shocking”, declared to the AFP Koji Takamori, a 46-year-old entrepreneur who came expressly from the island of Hokkaido (northern Japan) with his 9-year-old son. “But to be honest, I also came because there was so much opposition” to this state funeral, he added. This event is indeed far from being a moment of sacred union in Japan, having sparked intense controversy and demonstrations in recent weeks. Japan (more than eight and a half years in 2006-2007 and 2012-2020). He was the best-known Japanese political figure both at home and abroad, with his intense diplomatic activity and his massive fiscal and monetary stimulus policy dubbed “Abenomics”. last July at 67 shocked Japan and around the world. But Shinzo Abe was also hated by many for his ultra-liberal and nationalist views, his desire to revise the pacifist Japanese Constitution and his proximity to numerous political and financial scandals. The motive of his alleged assassin – Abe’s supposed links with the Unification Church, nicknamed “Moon sect”, accused of exerting strong financial pressure on its members – has further tarnished the image of the former Prime Minister in the eyes of his detractors. Since his death, the revelations continue to rain on the extent of the links between this Church and Japanese parliamentarians, especially the Liberal Democratic Party (PLD, right in power), formerly led by Abe and today by the current Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, whose popularity rating has melted since this summer. 60% of Japanese are against Fumio Kishida’s quick and unilateral decision to hold a state funeral has outraged the opposition, who believe it should have been debated and approved in parliament. Several opposition parties will boycott the ceremony. Tributes of this type for politicians have been extremely rare in Japan since the post-war period, the only precedent dating back to 1967. The estimated cost of the ceremony – the equivalent of 12 million euros – has also irritated. After the failures of Abe’s close protection, the government did not skimp on security: 20,000 police were to be deployed according to local media. Peaceful demonstrations against the event have sometimes brought together several thousand people in recent weeks. and a new rally was scheduled for Tuesday outside Parliament. A man also attempted to set himself on fire near the prime minister’s office last week to protest the national tribute, according to local media. According to the latest polls, about 60% of Japanese are opposed to this state funeral. Discreet presence of China Some 4,300 people including 700 foreign dignitaries are expected at this non-denominational ceremony lasting an hour and a half. drawn as the cremation urn containing Abe’s ashes arrives at the Budokan. After the national anthem and a minute’s silence, several eulogies are to be delivered, including by Fumio Kishida and Yoshihide Suga, Abe’s former right-hand man who had succeeded him as Prime Minister (2020-2021). The Emperor of Japan Naruhito and his wife Masako will not be present, due to their status as politically neutral national symbols, but other members of the Imperial House will attend Foreign guests include US Vice President Kamala Harris, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese. France will be represented by its former president Nicolas Sarkozy. China, with which Japan has fresh relations, sent a representative but no member of its executive. With AFP